Visit the Belmont County Victorian Mansion Museum and be thrilled by the splendor and elegance of this award-winning, Romanesque Revival mansion.
The museum consists of 26 rooms, skillfully restored and furnished with the finest of Victorian-era pieces. Draftsman J.E. Hall and architect C.E. Yost worked with gifted craftsmen from 1888 through 1893 to create this fine mansion.
As you enter through the Walton Avenue carriage entrance, you are met with finely carved oak fretwork, complete with a winged griffin, the guardian of the house. To the right, the dining room is home to the original parquet oak floor and the first of 11 fireplaces and carved wood mantels. To the left are the twin parlors. The parlors’ mantels are finished in butternut, the finest native wood which is now very rare.
After passing through the fretwork, you will be in the great main hall. It is finished in the finest quarter sawn oak throughout the first and second floors. The Inglenook, sometimes called the “Courting Corner” is home to a scenic cast iron firebox. Just off the main hall is a powder room, where you will find a ruby red marble sink and 22K gold inlay. Off the landing is the growlery, where the men would gather after dinner to discuss business.
Throughout the first floor, you can see much of the opulence of the mansion in the small details. Decorative locks and hinges shine like fine jewelry to this day. The Lincrusta wainscoting with copper and oak cap is in all halls and stairs to the top floor. All lighting fixtures of the first and second floor are combination gas and electric, even though electric lighting was not in general use at the time of construction.
The second floor provides a look into the family life inside the mansion. It consists of five bedrooms and two dressing rooms. There are two bathrooms, with the one between the master bedroom and the children’s bedroom. A running water supply came from two 540 gallon tanks on the floor above.
In the early years, dances, parties, and celebrations were held on the third floor, where we find a ballroom and music room. Today, the rooms are used to display historical documents and articles collected by the museum.
As you descend the “servant’s stairs” to the first floor, you will see a photo of the mansion in its original state with a “wrap-around” porch and a cone on the tower.
Back on the first floor in the kitchen, you will see the original soapstone sink and a coal stove similar to the one originally installed. The butler’s pantry has the original copper sink and lovely china.
You will find a fine collection of tools and utensils in the basement, some of which were used to build the mansion.
The Belmont County Victorian Mansion Museum is owned and operated by the Belmont County Historical Society.